Face it, the old skill and experience resume is outdated, ineffective…dead. Today’s work is all about your thinking – your talents and your passions. That means a new style of resume is needed. For that you need the new talent-based resume.

A talent based resume focuses on your performance talents, and how you use those talents to make an impact. And the best way to think of what to send on your resume is to understand what a hiring manager wants from you.

What they don’t want: gimmicks.

What they do want:
1. What are you great at (what are your talents and passions because they reflect your greatest performance areas)?
2. How have you used what you are great at (in other jobs so they can see it in action)?
3. What value have you created for other companies (so they can see the value you can bring to their company)?

Be sure to review the sample Talent-based Resume on this site as you review its three areas:

#1. What are you great at?
Be sure to list your talents and the things that make you successful. Are you great at building and sustaining relationships? Are you focused, driven and goal-oriented? Are you great at solving problems and paying attention to details? Are you great at encouraging the best from others? Are you great at inventing, creating and innovating? What are you great at? This is your time to be confident and bold. This is your time to share what you do very well because hiring managers want to hire people who do very well at what the job needs. Be sure to assess the job opportunity to be sure it needs what you are great at. Then present your talents on the face of your resume. Be bold. Be confident. This doesn’t say you are great at everything; it says you are great at the things the job needs which is why you are the clear choice. Be direct, so they pick you. Be confident so you get their attention. This is how to stand out and get hired.

#2. How have you used what you are great at?
Your resume should be a confidence builder. You know you are great at some things – and ideally the things that this job needs. Once you identify what you are great at, hiring managers want to know how you have used what you are great at – so they can see you in action. What did you do in your last job that shows what you are great at? Were you able to diffuse angry customers successfully? Were you able to keep a project on track or under budget? Were you able to work with a variety of personalities, and get the job done well? Were you able to build new business, keep customers happy and improve service? Were you able to find more efficient ways of doing your work? Show how you use what you are great at to make a difference in the company. Hiring managers are not interested in everything you have done; they don’t have time for that. But what they do have time for is to see you use your talents – they want to see that you can do what you say you can do. This makes you a clear choice. Present this and you get noticed. Present this and you show a hiring manager you are capable. Present this and you will stand out and get hired.

#3. What value have your created for other companies using your talents?
Companies are hiring you because they want you to create value for them. They are investing in you and for this investment they expect a return (the same way you expect a return when you invest your money in a mutual fund or bank). The greater the return, the more valuable you are to a company. So show the hiring manager you have created for your other companies. Show the dollar impact. Tell them how you saved 5% on overtime costs by rearranging the work schedule. Tell them how you saved 10% on the cost of a product by buying more efficiently. Tell them how you invented a new service that added $30,000 to the bottom line. Tell them how your idea to add new signs to your trucks brought in 15 new customers in the first month. Prove you are great. Show it with the numbers. This is how to stand out and get hired.

New workplace – new resume. Don’t use skill and experience – they are out of date. Use the new talent-based resume because it provides the meaningful information hiring managers want.